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OpenClaw keeps older plugin contracts wired through named compatibility adapters before removing them. This protects existing bundled and external plugins while the SDK, manifest, setup, config, and agent runtime contracts evolve.

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Compatibility registry

Plugin compatibility contracts are tracked in the core registry at src/plugins/compat/registry.ts. Each record has:
  • a stable compatibility code
  • status: active, deprecated, removal-pending, or removed
  • owner: sdk, config, setup, channel, provider, plugin-execution, agent-runtime, or core
  • introduction and deprecation dates when applicable
  • an exact removal date once the owning maintainer approves it; an omitted removeAfter keeps a deprecated surface ineligible for removal
  • replacement guidance
  • docs, diagnostics, and tests that cover the old and new behavior
The registry is the source for maintainer planning and future plugin inspector checks. If a plugin-facing behavior changes, add or update the compatibility record in the same change that adds the adapter. Doctor repair and migration compatibility is tracked separately at src/commands/doctor/shared/deprecation-compat.ts. Those records cover old config shapes, install-ledger layouts, and repair shims that may need to stay available after the runtime compatibility path is removed. Release sweeps should check both registries. Do not delete a doctor migration just because the matching runtime or config compatibility record expired; first verify there is no supported upgrade path that still needs the repair. Revalidate each replacement annotation during release planning too, since plugin ownership and config footprint can change as providers and channels move out of core.

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Deprecation policy

OpenClaw should not remove a documented plugin contract in the same release that introduces its replacement. Migration sequence:
  1. Add the new contract.
  2. Keep the old behavior wired through a named compatibility adapter.
  3. Emit diagnostics or warnings when plugin authors can act.
  4. Document the replacement and timeline.
  5. Test both old and new paths.
  6. Wait through the announced migration window.
  7. Remove only with explicit breaking-release approval.
Deprecated records must include a warning start date, replacement, docs link, and a final removal date no more than three months after the warning starts. Do not add a deprecated compatibility path with an open-ended removal window unless maintainers explicitly decide it is permanent compatibility and mark it active instead.

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Current compatibility areas

The July 2026 sweep removed the expired root SDK, manifest, provider, runtime, registry-flag, and plugin-owned web-config aliases. Doctor migrations remain separately tracked so supported upgrade paths can still repair old config. The remaining dated compatibility areas are:
  • the August and September SDK subpath windows listed in the migration guide
  • api.on("deactivate", ...) and api.on("subagent_spawning", ...) hook aliases
  • memory-specific embedding registration and the beta.5 session-store bridge
  • WhatsApp inbound callback aliases described below
  • explicit channel target parsing and openclaw/plugin-sdk/messaging-targets
  • embedded Pi agent aliases
  • the shipped agent-harness SDK aliases, whose removal is pending a new externally documented migration decision
  • the October 2026 SDK annotation families listed below
Active, undated registry records cover supported behavior rather than removal debt, including activation hints, plugin capture, bundled plugin enablement, and the generated channel-config fallback. The annotation-only compatibility audit added these dated records. Their removeAfter date is an earliest review date, not permission to remove a surface while its stated reader or migration condition remains unmet. pnpm plugins:boundary-report reports removal-pending records separately from deprecated records. A due removal-pending record remains blocked until its reported migration condition is satisfied and its reader references are cleared; the existing --fail-on-eligible-compat gate continues to apply only to dated deprecated records. Reader references are surface-token matches for triage; use the published-artifact sweep before authorizing removal.

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Channel prompt-context identifier aliases

New channel plugins should use MsgContext.ChannelPromptContext, MsgContext.ChannelStructuredContext, ChannelStructuredContextEntry, and SupplementalContextFacts.channelStructuredContext. The older UntrustedContext, UntrustedStructuredContext, UntrustedStructuredContextEntry, and supplemental untrustedContext names remain as deprecated SDK aliases until 2026-09-08 (registry record sdk-untrusted-context-identifier-aliases). Inbound finalization folds those deprecated fields into the channel-named fields and removes the old keys from runtime context. The security runtime similarly exports buildChannelMetadata; the deprecated buildUntrustedChannelMetadata alias remains available on the same schedule.

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WhatsApp inbound callback flat aliases

WhatsApp runtime callbacks deliver WebInboundMessage: the canonical nested event, payload, quote, group, and platform contexts plus deprecated flat aliases for the shipped callback fields. New callback code should read the nested contexts. Code that constructs clean nested callback messages can use WebInboundCallbackMessage; compatibility listeners that still inject old flat test or plugin messages should use LegacyFlatWebInboundMessage or WebInboundMessageInput. The flat aliases remain available until 2026-08-30; that window applies only to flat alias access, not to the nested shape, which is the canonical runtime contract. Each flat alias’s TypeScript @deprecated annotation names its exact nested replacement. Common examples:
  • id, timestamp, and isBatched move under event.
  • body, mediaPath, mediaType, mediaFileName, mediaUrl, location, and channelStructuredContext move under payload.
  • to, chatId, sender/self fields, sendComposing, reply(...), and sendMedia(...) move under platform.
  • replyTo* fields move under quote; group subject/participant/mention fields move under group.
payload.channelStructuredContext is extracted from inbound provider payloads. Plugins should inspect label, source, and type before treating its payload as authoritative.

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WhatsApp inbound admission fields

Accepted WhatsApp callback messages carry admission, a public-safe envelope for the access-control decision that admitted the message. New callback code should read admission facts from msg.admission instead of the older top-level admission fields. The top-level fields remain available until 2026-08-30. Each field’s TypeScript @deprecated annotation names its replacement:
  • from and conversationId move to admission.conversation.id.
  • accountId moves to admission.accountId.
  • accessControlPassed is a derived compatibility view of admission.ingress.decision === "allow"; on messages that already carry admission, writing the legacy boolean does not rewrite the ingress graph.
  • chatType moves to admission.conversation.kind.

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Plugin inspector package

The plugin inspector should live outside the core OpenClaw repo as a separate package/repository backed by the versioned compatibility and manifest contracts. The day-one CLI should be:
It should emit manifest/schema validation, the contract compatibility version being checked, install/source metadata checks, cold-path import checks, and deprecation/compatibility warnings. Use --json for stable machine-readable output in CI annotations. OpenClaw core should expose contracts and fixtures the inspector can consume, but should not publish the inspector binary from the main openclaw package.

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Maintainer acceptance lane

Use Crabbox-backed Blacksmith Testbox for the installable-package acceptance lane when validating the external inspector against OpenClaw plugin packages. Run it from a clean OpenClaw checkout after the package is built:
Keep this lane opt-in for maintainers, since it installs an external npm package and may inspect plugin packages cloned outside the repo. The local repo guards cover the SDK export map, compatibility registry metadata, deprecated SDK-import burn-down, and bundled extension import boundaries; Testbox inspector proof covers the package as external plugin authors consume it.

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Release notes

Release notes should include upcoming plugin deprecations with target dates and links to migration docs, before a compatibility path moves to removal-pending or removed.